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Speculation Theory about Juggler Dalton

Macromind101

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In the Kanto-based games, there is a rather out-of-place Juggler in Silph Co., who states that Giovanni is his boss. This is very peculiar, as no villainous teams in the entire franchise (or at least the main-stream games; I don't know too much about the side-series) employ Trainer classes that are not associated directly with their team (barring Scientists, of course). Plus, why isn't Juggler Dalton classified as a Team Rocket grunt if he's working for Giovanni? I think I may have a plausible explanation as to why a random Juggler is involved with Team Rocket's takeover of Silph Co. And I know that it's not likely that people really care about this, but I would still like to throw this theory out there, in case anyone else finds it interesting.

My theory is that Juggler Dalton is associated with Giovanni through being one of the trainers at Viridian Gym. This, in my viewpoint, makes a lot of sense for a couple reasons. First, while there are no Jugglers in Viridian Gym, there are other Trainer classes that are commonly seen with Jugglers in other locations. For example, Tamers and Jugglers are the two primary Trainer classes in Fuchsia Gym. Cooltrainers/Ace Trainers and Blackbelts (alongside Tamers) are seen with Jugglers in Victory Road. This makes me think that under normal circumstances (like maybe back when Giovanni was the Gym Leader full-time), Jugglers (or at least Dalton) would have been present as trainers at the Viridian Gym. Second, Jugglers appear to be one of the more elite Trainer classes in the Kanto region as they appear in end-game locations (like later Gyms and Victory Road) and generally have Pokemon with levels in the 30's/40's (albeit Dalton seems to be an exception, the real-life reason obviously being that all other Rocket members in Silph Co. use Pokemon in the high 20's). Considering that the Viridian Gym is considered to be the most difficult Kanto Gym, and that Giovanni would likely have very high standards for who gets to train in his gym, it seems that Jugglers would fit in perfectly as Gym trainers in Viridian Gym, which is primarily composed of other elite Trainer classes like Cooltrainers, Black Belts, and Tamers. Third, based on certain dialogues, the Gym trainers in Viridian Gym appear to be aware of their leader's identity (even though the Gym guide, alongside the rest of the Kanto population, do not). Meaning, even though they do not appear to be members of Team Rocket based on their Trainer classes not being that of Team Rocket grunts, they are yet associated with the villainous organization in that they are willingly working for the leader of Team Rocket, as well as not reporting him or his hideout location to the authorities, which in real-life would categorize them as accomplices. Thus, it does not seem like a stretch that while taking over Silph Co., Giovanni called upon one of his former Gym trainers (whom he would have worked closely with back when he was a Gym leader full-time) to assist in the takeover. And for one reason or another (i.e. having been arrested upon Red freeing Silph Co., being fired for his failure to stop Red, being too ashamed to face his boss due to his failure in Silph Co., simply not getting the memo, etc.), Juggler Dalton did not join the rest of his former companions when Giovanni returned to the gym.
 
I love the idea of one of the Gym Trainers secretly being in on Giovanni's schemes. It shows that Giovanni's ambitions go further than what we know bout him with Team Rocket. This is a solid theory that gives us a bit of world building: kudos to you!
 
Agreed. I like the theory. I always thought it was a bit odd that Viridian City even had other trainers (especially since when Blue took over, he didn't take followers) because Giovanni was the leader. Your theory, however, fills in that gap in confusion as well. It would make sense for Giovanni to have started his organization there too. Maybe some of his early gym trainers became or his first Grunts (or more likely Admin) and are even the ones who remained loyal to him and tried to find him again in the Johto games.
 
Personally I think the Gym Trainers in Viridian are simply Rocket grunts who effectively have civilian postings, hence they don't have to wear the uniform.
 
Please note: The thread is from 5 years ago.
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